08 Dec

Progressive Web Apps

It’s the end of the (app) world as we know it

iPhone developers were quick to criticize Apple’s original web-only app strategy. Sure, it was possible to save a link to a web page on your home screen (using a relatively buried setting in Safari) as Jobs recommended. But historically, native apps have had substantial advantages over browser-based web apps, including better access to device hardware, higher perceived performance, offline capabilities, notifications, and discoverability via dedicated app stores.

Much like the “responsive design” revolution, a PWA is not a single technology, but rather an umbrella term for a number of cutting-edge web technologies and best practices that can be used to make a website or web app feel as fast and as functional as its native-app counterparts.

A PWA can:

  • Be installed as an icon on the device’s home screen.
  • Access device hardware features, such as GPS, bluetooth, accelerometer, camera, and the file system.
  • Receive push notifications, even when the browser isn’t open (including on the device’s lock screen).
  • Make payments using the device’s built-in payment system (such as Apple Pay and Google Pay).
  • Work offline and improve performance, thanks to some advanced site-caching mechanisms.
  • Have deep linking to any “state” of the application, much like a native app.
  • Function across multiple device screen sizes—from phone to desktop—all from the same codebase, thanks to responsive web design.

In a lot of cases, progressive web apps aren’t “just as good” as native; they’re better. Because PWAs are built on the same HTML/CSS/JavaScript platform as a regular website, it’s entirely possible to create a full-featured app without the need for dedicated Android or iOS developers (or the substantial costs that come with building and supporting multiple native codebases). There’s also no app store overhead or approval process waiting games since the installation of a PWA is as simple as choosing “Save to Home Screen” from your browser.

Don’t limit your PWA thinking to just mobile devices, either. A PWA can be installed as a Chrome Web App in the desktop Chrome browser. And soon, high-quality PWAs will be indexed and included in the Microsoft Store alongside native Windows 10 applications, a clear indication of how much PWAs are changing the application landscape as a whole.